Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith.

Paul Tillich (1886–1965), a German-American Protestant theologian, developed a “method of correlation” that interprets Christian symbols in relation to the existential questions of modern life. In his mid‑20th‑century writings and lectures—shaped by World War I, the rise of Nazism, and his emigration to the United States—Tillich sought to redefine faith beyond mere assent to doctrines. He described faith as “ultimate concern,” arguing that the word “God” functions symbolically for the depth-dimension of reality that ultimately claims us. The quoted lines reflect this project: they present faith as an existential orientation toward what is ultimate, and they connect serious reflection on life’s meaning with the threshold of faith.

Tillich distinguishes faith from belief as intellectual agreement. For him, faith is an all-encompassing “ultimate concern”—the state of being grasped by what one takes to be of unconditional importance. Calling this ultimate reality “God” is “symbolical,” meaning the term points beyond itself to the depth and ground of being, not a mere object alongside other objects. The second sentence suggests that honest, sustained reflection on life’s meaning already places a person near faith, because the search for meaning implicitly reaches toward an ultimate horizon. The quote thus reframes faith as an existential act and orientation rather than a purely doctrinal or institutional commitment.